With Christmas over, I am back working on my recipe notebook. Going thru some old Cooking Light Magazines today, seeing what recipes I made notes on. This recipe is for a yummy bar best served chilled. I wrote very good in the margin of this one.

You can substitute orange juice and orange zest for the lemon.

BUTTER CRUNCH LEMON-CHEESE BARS
Source: Cooking Light Magazine; Jan-Feb/01

CRUST:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon mace or nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose flour
cooking spray
FILLING:
1 cup 1% low fat cottage cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 large egg white

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

TO PREPARE CRUST:
Place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until well-blended. Press crust into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

TO PREPARE FILLING:
Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and remaining ingredients, and process until well-blended. Pour filling over crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until set (the edges will get lightly browned), and cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours.